Park Hitch Stalls Springs Development Plan

February 18, 1987|By GARY ENOS, Staff Writer

Developers of the 490-acre Turtle Run community in Coral Springs will not be allowed to begin construction of their ``city within a city`` until Broward County and city officials iron out a disagreement over parks in the development.

Broward County commissioners on Tuesday approved plans for the residential and commercial project, but said developers may not obtain building permits until the city and county decide how to develop a 36-acre forest area within the development that has been designated for park use.

City officials would like to build ballfields on their share of the 36 acres, but county planners want to preserve the environmentally sensitive area of cypress trees and slash pines.

An environmental impact report by the county`s Office of Planning states that no more than 20 percent of the cypress trees and slash pines in the 36-acre area should be removed.

The city`s principal planner said Tuesday that the requirement could hurt the city`s ability to provide needed park facilities in Turtle Run, at the northwest corner of State Road 7 and Sample Road.

``We don`t intend to tear down every cypress tree we can find in there . . . but we`ve had our hands tied significantly,`` said principal planner Jaye Epstein.

A joint venture of the Courtelis Co., a commercial developer, and Lennar Homes, Turtle Run is expected to include 3,000 residential units, a middle school, offices and shops. The ambitious development has been billed as a ``city within a city.``

To Coral Springs officials, those numbers translate to nearly 10,000 future residents in Turtle Run, residents who will need and demand active park sites in their neighborhood.

``People move to Coral Springs for two reasons: schools and parks,`` Epstein said.

But the land on which the proposed park acres sit has been classified as an environmentally sensitive area by the county, making its development subject to county environmental guidelines.

Developers have arranged to donate about 19 acres within the 36-acre tract to Broward County and the remaining 17 acres to the city. The land is at the southwest corner of the development, just east of Coral Springs High School.

County officials call the collection of cypress trees and slash pines the largest forest area remaining in Coral Springs, and would like to see most of it preserved in its natural state.

That sentiment was echoed by County Commission Chairman Howard Forman, who said, ``Those cypressheads are very beautiful. I would tread lightly . . . on the cypress areas.``

An attorney representing the two developers of Turtle Run offered a compromise, asking the county to convey its park land to the city if the city agrees to preserve 70 percent of the 36-acre forest area.

``My impression is that the County Commission is sympathetic to some of the concerns of the city,`` said attorney Joel Gustafson.

Epstein said city and county officials would schedule a meeting to work out a compromise on the park issue.